Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1887-06-22

so,a T have ,.r been zaHg1M
hand organ manu- WILL s. HAYS.
| factory in the world gives it out clear and
| cold that more of Hays songs have beer set
| to music in these instruments of street torture
| than of any other half dozen composers. This
| is a big load of misery to charge up to one
man, but it is probably true. There are such
subtle, catchy charms about the simple melo-
dies Of this writer that his music can be appre-
ciated by prfma donna or Hottentot. A
great traveller once told me that he had heard
Hays tunes oozing out of rickety old hand or
gans in such out of the way places as Cape
Town, Cairo, Bagdad, Constantinople, and
even in Jerusalemi
l saw Hays yesterday. He was standing
on a street corner expostulating with an old
Irishman, who had been numerically club
bling his mule. He is born philosopher and
at the time passed he was quoting passages
from Holy Writ, the riot act and snatches
from popular songs to the astonishment of
the cruel fellow. Hays has not changed in
the least in personal appearance in the last
hozen years. He is so years old, large, broad
>houldered with the carriage OF soldier and
he bearing of a southern cavalier. His hair
nearly snow white, his face full and forid,
his big mustache black, and he is altogether
very handsome, well preserved man.
dark SLOUGH hat was pulled down over his
eyes, and his hands were showed deep into his
pantaloons pockets. For years he was the
river editor of The Courier Journal, and be
conducted column that was indeed jour
nalistic curiosity. 1t was a strange mixture
of river news, Of goat, mother in-law and
watermelon literature, and pathetic verses
aud Iia1ap f.,.iag IL
Hays personally knew for a period of twenty
years every river man from flttsburg to
New Orleans, from captains and owners down
TO deck hands and roustabouts. He was inn
mensely popular, and several boats We're
named after him. One fine southern steamer.
the Matte Belle Hays, was named in com
pliment to his eldest daughter who is now a
very beautiful woman, a yeritable southern
belle. AT present Mr.. Hays is editor of The
Weekly Commercial of Louisville, and man.
ages to grind out a new song or two every
month. He is man of family, with wife
and several beautiful children, to whom lie il
devotedly attached.
49,
He was born on July 10, 1887, and his
father was a wagonmaker Later on he was
member of the old firm of Hays & Cooper,
and was once well to do. The war, bad luck
something or other broke him up in bust
ness long ago Willis first verses were writ.
ten on boards and shingles with pieces of
charcoal in his fathers wagon shop He was
a scapeGrace and could never be kept at
school. Consequently he is a man of little or
no education, except what he has picked I'D
in rough,ng it around the world He was
sent from home to several schools but in
valiably ran away, and finally came back to
Louisville, where his path for many years
was an exceedingly thorny one. While away
from home, when IL years old, he wrote his
first serious poem, an effusion addressed to
beautiful girl with whom the young man was
deeply smitten.
at was my first poem," said Hays in speak
ing of it, land it was a matter of much CON
Germ to Inc. l sent it to The Louisville Times,
and the editor told Inc it would be printed.
Then l followed it up and hung around the
office by day and watched it solicitously by
night for three days. Then the poem ap-
peared in print with my name to it, I read
1t over and over again and again until my
eyes ached and my head swan with ecstasy
l saw fame and fortune in those lines until
the girls brother, who was older than I, met
me on the street anu licked thunder out of
me for writing the verses to his sister. To
make it worse he told it about town that it
wasn't for writing them to his sister, but be-
cause the poetry was SO bad"
This was the young writer's beginning
not very suspicious, i, is true, but it was
starter, and he soon forgot the pain Of his
drubbing, and verses began rolling from his
pen like smoke from a soft coal fed locomo-
tive. His first successful song was the long
ago famous "Evangeline," which won him a
great reputation at home and abroad Other
songs that met with instant success were
Take This Letter TO Mother" "Angels Meet
Me at de Gross Roads," sway Down Yonder
in de Confelds." "Shamus O'Brien," "Nora
O'Neil," "Driven from Home, 'srhe Little Old
Cabin in the Lane" "Write Me Letter from
Home," "The Wandering Refugee, and "Mol-
lie Darling. 1.-THE last named proved the biggest
success OF all, and over |. 00O, 900 copies of it
were sold in comparatively short time. 1t
was rapidly republished in France England,
Germany, Holland and Australia. A. dozen
years ago ]. L. Peters, the New York music
publisher, furnished Hays a statement that
he had sold the following number of copies of
some of his songs; "Sha,nus O'Brien,n 237, 375:
"Mollie Darling"ttben just QUIT, go, 900; "Nora
ONeill, !" 346, GA; "Driven from Home," 1885,
Si5, and "Write Me q Letter from Home,n
446, 100. At that time this publisher alone
stated that he had sold 5000, 900 copies Of
Hays songs 80
The song writer tells an interesting story
about the inspiration and production of
"Evsnee cline" He was on visit to the home
of X. d. Mallory, the secession congressman,
in Oldham county, KY. There were num-
Of nj bar rNaCpla p,,actc at tho bn,aa